How green is energy from biomass?

Expert blog – July 21, 2021Anouk Blüm, Director of Financing for StartGreen, explains in this blog what StartGreen considers to be truly green biomass.Commotion Lately, there has been a lot of commotion regarding biomass as a green energy source. Because is extracting energy from organic material really that sustainable? A logical question when you know that some types of biomass are sourced from far away and other types are also perfectly suitable as animal feed. Furthermore, CO₂ is released during combustion.A critical eye Let me start by saying that StartGreen takes a very critical look at the biomass projects we finance. For instance, we distinguish between the fermentation and combustion of biomass. With fermentation, we look critically at what is being fermented. We prefer the fermentation of manure only, without the addition of food waste, for example (‘mono-manure fermentation’). Manure is a waste product that you can’t do anything else with, except for fertilizing the land, of course. Converting manure into biogas is called fermentation. You can make green gas from biogas or use it, for example, to power a combined heat and power plant that provides green electricity and heat. In this way, you still extract sustainable energy from an absolute residual product.Not from afar However, many people immediately think of biomass as the burning of wood that is harvested on another continent and then transported to the Netherlands by polluting diesel ships. StartGreen does not finance projects that source residual wood from abroad. We are stricter in this regard than the European Union. The EU only prescribes—broadly defined—sustainability requirements, such as the need to know the origin. I find it sad that it is apparently cheaper to source wood from the US and Canada than to make it sustainable here. The province of Overijssel, one of our larger clients, completely agrees with this, which is not entirely coincidental. That is why we exclude these types of projects from financing through the Energiefonds Overijssel, the fund we manage for them.

Unstable eco-balance Of course, burning wood is not ideal, because CO₂ is released. You could argue that this residual wood at least absorbed its portion of carbon dioxide recently, during its tree phase. Fossil fuels did that too, but millions of years ago. The eco-balance of biomass is therefore better than that of fossil fuels, and even better if you also plant enough new wood. But because wood simply grows slower than you burn it, you are forced to keep a close eye on the balance between planting and processing.

Industrial heat All in all, biomass is not an optimal solution. However, at this point in the energy transition, there are no better alternatives yet. Some industrial processes require heat. And I am talking about temperatures of 150 degrees or higher. Electrification with solar or wind energy is not a solution for that. In new buildings, you can easily use a heat pump with a boiler on solar panels to heat water or spaces. For industrial high-temperature processes, that won’t suffice.Strict requirements Now you know why StartGreen sets strict requirements for biomass projects. When it comes to the fermentation of biomass, our focus is on mono-fermentation and the further processing of surplus manure with, at most, second and third-generation raw materials as additives. In our view, first-generation biomass can be more useful in other circular processes. Heat from the combustion of residual wood may only be used for high-temperature applications. But then only regionally sourced residual wood and only from organizations that are NTA 8080 certified. Furthermore, that residual wood may only be processed in modern biomass plants, with the correct filters to minimize CO₂ and particulate matter emissions.On the way to circular It is clear that biomass must be a temporary solution. Fortunately, developments are moving very fast, and I expect an innovation that offers a better alternative at any moment. From that point on, we can start using biomass as a raw material and not as residual material. For example, as a raw material for cosmetics and medicines, so that we no longer have to use fossil raw materials for those either. I think that is a beautiful, circular thought.